U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,794 issued to J. R. Bernhagen, et al. on Oct. 20, 1987, and assigned to the Assignee of the present invention, illustrates a steering mechanism for converting the rotational movement of a steering wheel to linear actuation of one or the other of a pair of juxtaposed turn control valves. That steering mechanism has proven to be extremely effective and reliable in operation. For example, it has a reasonable steering force range for the associated steering ratio, a relatively fast rate of response with a relatively small steering wheel deadband at the centered position thereof, and a very desirable modulation rate or rate of moving the left and right turn control valves.
Unfortunately, the steering mechanism of U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,794 is overly complex and requires an excessive amount of space. So what is needed is a simpler, more compact and more economical steering mechanism that will provide substantially the same operating characteristics as that patent.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.